Obamacare extension for those 'in line'

The Obama administration is giving anyone “in line” for health coverage extra time to get it. But there isn’t really a “line” and nobody’s checking who’s on it.

After insisting for months that the March 31 enrollment deadline would hold firm, the administration is giving America some wiggle room. The official deadline remains March 31, and the White House is strongly encouraging people to sign up now to avoid the crush. But it’s leaving the door wide open for people who say they had sign-up difficulty, broadly defined, to get more time.

Text Size

Allies are cheering, health insurers are fretting, and Republican opponents are saying it’s just one more sign that the ambitious health law just won’t work.

“What the hell is this, a joke?” House Speaker John Boehner said. “It’s not hard to understand why the American people question this administration’s commitment to the rule of law.”

The Obama administration said Wednesday that anyone who has entered information into HealthCare.gov or rang an Obamacare call center since enrollment began October 1 will be able to complete the signup in April — and possibly beyond.

The administration says these people are effectively “in line” for coverage and, just like voters who find themselves still in line on Election Day when the polls are supposed to close, they should have the chance to finish.

But it’s clear whether a voter was or was not on the queue when the clock struck or the polling place door closed. For Affordable Care Act coverage, federal exchange customers can simply “attest” that they attempted to enroll on time but were stymied — whether by website glitches, complex family situations or pretty much any other explanation. They won’t have to produce documentation.

“Most people are truthful when applying for those benefits,” said Julie Bataille a spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the Obamacare enrollment system. On a call with reporters she declined to describe any scenario in which someone seeking to complete coverage after March 31 would be denied or told they weren’t “in line” for coverage.

How many people may take advantage of the extra time is unknown, although both the state and federal exchanges have been seeing high website traffic and busy call centers as March 31 approached. Insurance industry sources say they don’t know if the next few weeks will bring a trickle or a flood.

Insurers are approaching the delay warily, noting that they can support a limited extension if there’s a hard-and-fast endpoint.

“It’s important to make sure that people who tried to sign up for coverage are able to get coverage. Health plans have and are doing everything they can to help consumers through the enrollment process,” said Clare Krusing, spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans. “The new special open enrollment period needs to be limited to a defined period of time with a clear end date. This helps to ensure there is an incentive for people to enroll.”